


Come Over (Frank Castle x Reader)

by themostmarvelousimagines



Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Romantic Friendship, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-11 18:38:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12941304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themostmarvelousimagines/pseuds/themostmarvelousimagines
Summary: A former Agent of SHIELD, the reader met Frank when they were assigned to help bring him to justice. After learning more about him, the reader changes their mind and ends up helping Frank, only to eventually fake their own death. The two reconnect after some time and their true feelings come out.





	Come Over (Frank Castle x Reader)

**Author's Note:**

> hi guess who watched The Punisher and can't get over Frank Castle  
> Meeee I did  
> I also don't know why I always end up doing some kind of past relationship trope with my fics  
> Anywhosers here's something new!

“You know Frank, I’m starting to think you actually are dead,” you said, eyes lowered to the concrete. You shifted you weight and pulled your jacket tighter around your torso with your free arm. The cold night air rushed over you and you shivered once.

Frank scoffed from his end of the phone and sighed. You couldn’t even see him and you knew he had that stupid smirk on his face and was shaking his head.

“I know it’s been a long time,” he said, “And I’m gonna make up for it, I promise. But right now... it’s better if I keep my distance.”

“Right,” you said, rolling your eyes. “Because everyone will see you coming. Not like I’ve been dead this whole time too or anything like that. Everyone's out looking for a dead person. Makes sense.”

Frank stayed quiet and another gust of wind nearly knocked you off your feet. “Look, Frank. One dead bastard to another, I miss you. Being dead sucks. You’re the first person I’ve reached out to since I went into hiding and all I get is to hear your voice.”

It felt strange, telling the truth for once. Frank knew about everything you’d done; from betraying SHIELD to faking your own death to keep the people you loved safe. It was almost too similar to his story, which helped him to understand better. How Frank Castle ended up being the person you first revealed yourself to was a mystery to the both of you. You’d met a few times before, seeing as it was your job to help catch him and put him behind bars. In a strange turn of events, you actually took his side in the end. After finding him and listening to him explain his story, you changed your mind. You decided to help him any way you could, and sometimes that meant offering emotional support or keeping his head on straight.

Sometimes, you just need to get shit done on your own. That’s what he was doing, and you weren’t about to stop him.

That, and he could kick your ass without even trying.

Dude was kinda scary.

“I’m sorry,” Frank said softly, “Just a little longer, okay? I’ll see you again, you hear me?”

“Yeah,” you replied, sighing. “I hear you.”

“Good,” he said, “Thanks for the intel you gave me, I really appreciate that. I’ll be in touch.”

The line went dead and you let your shoulders slump. In an act of frustration, you slammed the payphone back into place and stormed away, your cheeks still burning from the cold. Shoving your hands into your pockets you made your way back home, thoughts of your warm apartment driving you to get there fast.

On your brief walk home, you thought back to the time you spent with Frank, listening to his story and trying to understand. You’d call him your friend, after all the shit he’d helped you with, and the shit you’d done in return. Regardless of how short the time was you had to see him before he disappeared, you’d gotten close to him in a way you couldn’t understand.

Maybe that made you crazy, feeling like you could call The Punisher your friend. With all of the things they said about him in the papers, most considered him an animal; a lunatic who murders people for shits and giggles. You were glad that you knew otherwise.

After carefully unlocking the door to your apartment- the shivering made it pretty difficult- you rushed inside and let out a huge puff of air. You felt your chest loosen up and you shut your eyes. They burned and watered from the cold so you rubbed at them, removed your jacket, and slowly made your way to your couch.

You all but flopped down into the cushions and sighed heavily, rubbing your temples with your fingertips and starting to wind down. Your mind was still racing from the conversation with Frank and you couldn’t seem to shut it up. As you were about to reach for the TV remote, the floorboards behind you creaked. Without blinking an eye you grabbed the handgun you had hidden under a couch pillow and swung around, but when you saw who it was, you stopped yourself before you could pull the trigger.

“Frank, you asshole!” you shouted, standing up from the couch, “I almost killed you, you stupid fuck!”

“Nice to see you, too,” he laughed, “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You are such a dick!” you made your way over and shoved him, his back hitting the wall behind him. “What is wrong with you!”

“Hey, come on, calm down,” he replied, holding his hands up in defense. You shoved him back again.

“How did you get in here?” you demanded.

Frank laughed and looked anywhere but at you. “Followed you here a long time ago, sweetheart. I’ve known where you’ve been for a while.”

“God dammit,” you sighed.

“You done pushin’ me around yet?” he asked, his tone lighthearted.

You rolled your eyes and backed up, turned away, and clasped your hands behind your head. “You’re a piece of work, Frank Castle.”

“Yeah, well, tell me somethin’ I don’t know,” he said nonchalantly, following after you.

“I thought you needed more time,” you asked, whipping back around. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Believe it or not kid, I missed you too,” he explained. His voice was soft, almost timid. He wasn’t looking you in the eye again. In fact, his eyes were all over the room, but never landed on you. “I wanted to see you.”

“So what, you decided to drop in, say hi, ask for a favor and go?”

“What? No, why would I-”

“Because that was how it always is, Frank. Or at least that’s how it was.”

Frank sighed heavily and ran his hand over the top of his head. “Look, I’m sorry, alright? What else do you want me to say, huh? That I was heartbroken because I couldn’t see you anymore? That I got all ‘woe is me’ when I heard you died? I wasn’t. I have more important shit to do than making sure you don’t get your feelings hurt.”

You shook your head at him. “If you came here to make me feel like shit, congrats. You got what you wanted. Now get out.”

When he simply stared at you instead of responding, you scoffed and moved past him, letting your shoulder clip his on the way. “Goodnight, Frank.”

“Hey, don’t you do that,” he called after you, “Come on, don’t walk away from me again.”

You stopped in your tracks and bowed your head. Your heart ached in your chest and it felt like it was about to burst. “You should go.”

As you resumed walking down the hallway to your bedroom, Frank was almost immediately in tow, grabbing your wrist and stopping you again. His grip was firm; when you tried to pull away and couldn’t, you turned and shot him a warning look.

“Let go.”

Frank shook his head. “Not happenin’.”

You attempted to pull away again and failed, but you continued to struggle against him anyway. He only pulled you in closer, hushing you as you began to protest with very strong words. You all but begged him to let go of you but still he refused, yanking on your arm until you were close enough for him to wrap his arms around you completely.

“I’m not letting you go,” he said, his tone haunted and gruff. “Not again. I won’t.”

As hard as you’d fought to get away from him, you eventually gave up and melted into his embrace. You had no idea how long it had been but you missed it, letting Frank hold you and the sense of security that came with it.

“I’m sorry,” Frank whispered, “I’m sorry for everything. I should’ve just come to see you instead of calling you. I shouldn’t have said I didn’t care when I heard you died. I did... I cared a lot. I lost one of the people I trust the most. I lost someone I wanted to protect, someone I cared about. Some days I would beat myself up for not trying harder, y’know, I thought, if I’d been there to protect you maybe I could’ve saved you. You’re more to me than just a source of information... Even if that’s all you were when I first met you.”

You laughed gently and wrapped your arms around his waist, fully accepting the vulnerability of the moment and savoring it. “Thanks.”

“I care about you, you got that?” Frank asked, grabbing you by the shoulders and looking you in the eye. “Don’t you ever forget that.”

A sense of bravery washed over you and, without even thinking, you leaned in and connected your lips to his in a hesitant, soft kiss. It lasted barely two seconds and when your eyes met again, Frank grabbed your waist and kissed you again, this time letting it last, and making it meaningful. Your toes curled inside your shoes and you felt light as air, like you’d float away if you weren’t careful. Luckily, Frank was there to keep you grounded.

When the kiss ended you both laughed and Frank’s hand came to stroke the side of your face. The rest of the night was spent over several cups of coffee, the both of you sitting on your kitchen floor side-by-side and catching up. You talked about the good things, the bad things, and the rolling-on-the-floor-tears-in-your-eyes-laughing things. You shared several more kisses but neither of you wanted to ruin the sentimental value by taking it any further than that.

Sooner than you’d expected, the sun began to rise. You both knew it was time for him to leave, even though neither of you wanted it. Frank stood at the front door and slipped on his coat, put on his beanie, and pulled the hood on his jacket up over his head. He looked like someone you’d want to avoid if you were walking alone at night, if you didn’t know any better.

You were leaned back against the couch, watching him with tired eyes. When he was done layering up, he turned to you, a fond look in his eyes. He smiled, you smiled back, then he reached out with one hand and let it rest on the left side of your face. You looked into each other eyes for a moment, but eventually Frank's eyes wandered downward to your lips. Instead of kissing them, he settled for your cheek, his lips lingering.

“I’ll come back,” he whispered into your ear, “I promise.”

You nodded and watched as he slowly made his way outside, bracing the cold and gently closing your front door behind him. The smirk he shot you as he shut the door was just reassurance that he would keep his promise.


End file.
